


The Nue's Curse

by junko



Series: Curse of the Nue [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-30
Updated: 2012-06-30
Packaged: 2017-11-08 21:12:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/447624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Preparing for their mission to the human world, Byakuya asks Renji a horrifying question.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Nue's Curse

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, folks, I'm attempting something quite possibly *insane.* This new series continues to follow Renji and Zabimaru, and will pick up where "distance between us" left off. It will be comprised of relatively short peices interspersed in and around canon. 
> 
> If you're tuning in for the first time, I've made my case that Zabimaru/Renji are a nue (demon) in the last installment of my previous series, (entitled: "Demon Lover.") The title of this new series is based on the fact that Japanese folklore tells me that if you see a nue, it's a sign of bad luck, misfortune.
> 
> One of the inspirations for this peice is teh crazy Renji has on when they go after Rukia the first time. He's utterly scary and ruthless and it came as total shock to me when it was slowly revealed in the Manga/Anime that they were best friends/potential lovers. I asked myself: How could he be like that with her? This is my answer.

Renji stood at attention in Byakuya’s office, his heart hammering in his chest. He could hardly remember to breathe, and his mind was such a jumble that he was unable to process a single word the captain had just said.

Byakuya, for once, seemed willing to repeat himself. “Let me ask again: if I order you to kill Rukia, Lieutenant, can you do it?”

“But, Taicho, you can’t seriously think—“

Byakuya raised his hand, stopping Renji short. “I will tolerate neither questions nor hesitations. Answer me: yes or no?”

Renji had no answer, nothing beyond utter and complete shock. Rukia was Renji’s best friend since forever. Some days, he even thought he might love her. Kill her? It was beyond contemplation. A thought like that—the image of the jagged edge of Zabimaru slicing her delicate throat--threatened to drag him down into raving madness. Truthfully, his brain had gotten hung up several steps back. How had it even come to this? What the fuck happened to Rukia in the human world that his captain would need him to consider this horrible possibility?

He knew what it said on paper, what she’d supposedly done. Byakuya and he had read the whole report together. Renji had read it again a second time, and then a third.

No matter how many times he saw the words, they never made any sense.

Just like this question Byakuya asked him now.

Meanwhile, Byakuya continued to stare impassively at the papers on his desk. “Last night you convinced me that you are a demon, Renji. Perhaps even an extraordinarily rare and powerful one,” he said quietly. “Tonight, depending on what we find, I may be in need of such a creature. Will you be that for me?”

For _him_?

The captain already knew Renji was bound to follow any order, any command issued, so what was Byakuya really asking him here? What did that mean, ‘for him’?

Byakuya raised his gaze at that very moment, pinning Renji under a direct stare. The captain had never looked at Renji like this, with _so much_ emotion in those gray eyes. Their intensity sucked the remaining air from Renji’s lungs. Somehow, without speaking a word, Renji understood Byakuya’s desperation, his plea for help.

Byakuya Kuchiki was afraid.

He was completely terrified that, despite his usual mercilessness on the battlefield, he couldn’t carry out the order to kill his sister.

The captain was desperate to know that, if the moment came and he truly faltered, Renji would do what he could not.

 _Damn it all_ , Renji thought. _After everything--after all the times you could have shown me your heart, offered any hint you needed me for anything, you do it like this._

Renji had already told Byakuya he loved him. Now Byakuya was asking: how much?

Too bad for Rukia, Renji already knew his answer to _that_ question.

Renji bowed his head, crushed by his potential grief over the loss of his friend, and with her, possibly a piece of his very soul at having to live with the knowledge it would be _her_ blood on  his hands.

Gods damn, too, whatever twist of fate had brought them to this awful moment. Suddenly, Renji’s eyes widened; silently he asked: _Is this our curse, Zabimaru? The misfortune we portend?_

The zanpaktō at his hip rumbled.

 _It may be_ , a voice hissed.

 _If so_ , the deeper one added, _we will bear it together_.

Comforted by the Zabimaru’s pledge, Renji finally found his voice. It was scratchy and raw, but he managed, “It’s my duty, Taicho. I will be the _very_ thing you need." Though his head was still dipped, Renji’s gaze flashed up, darkly. He could feel Zabimaru pouring out his reistsu and merging into his own. His mouth curled in a savage, toothy grin. “Rukia will be dead before she even sees us coming.”

 


End file.
